Pro Argument
Dylan Proietti
In a surprising announcement on Sunday, President Obama confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden, founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and orchestrator of the September 11 attacks.
The death of bin Laden resulted from a lead that was presented to Obama last August. This lead, after many months of garnering further information, determined that bin Laden was hiding in a compound located in Pakistan, just outside of Islamabad. Based on this intelligence, last week Obama authorized an operation to take down bin Laden.
Sunday, after a firefight in which no Americans were killed, Osama bin Laden was killed and his body was taken in to United States custody.
This news has been met with widespread rejoicing, from people singing the national anthem at the White House to the outpour of support on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Though some may see no reason to celebrate, this is, undoubtedly, a significant step toward stopping the efforts of al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden stood both as a leader and a symbol for the terrorist organization and by removing the threat that he presented, the United States has proved its determination to fighting terrorism and delivered on the promises it made ten years ago.
Furthermore, by bringing bin Laden to justice, President Obama has the opportunity to unite this country as it has not been united since the attacks on September 11. As he stated in his address to the nation on Sunday, the United States came together as one people on Septmber 11. We grieved for our loss and were dedicated to fighting the terrorist forces that brought this tragedy upon our nation’s soil.
Terrorism, though we must never stop fighting it, can never truly be brought to an end. For this reason, we must not view the death of bin Laden as an end to terrorism by any means.
Rather, I see this momentous occasion as an opportunity for us, once again, to unify and put politics, race, gender, and religion behind us and identify, first and foremost, as citizens of the United States of America.
Con Argument
AJ Gunning
The shocking news of the death of Osama bin Laden last night was a huge boon for many Americans who finally felt that we had dealt a lasting and tangible blow to the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11.
Yet, I wonder how important this blow really is, and I further worry that many Americans will see this as an end to the war on terror and not simply as a victory in an enduring war.
Although bin Laden was an important figurehead for Al Qaeda, he is not the only leader within the terrorist organization that can hurt the United States. Ayman al-Zawahiri was reported to have taken operational control of the terrorist organization in April of 2009 by the State Department, and he is still very much at large.
Although bin-Laden was an ideological figurehead, his operational presence within Al-Qaeda was thought to be minimal at best. So, it is unlikely his death will set back any brooding plans that Al-Qaeda has against the U.S.
As the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday, the U.S. will likely be in more danger from terrorist attacks as radical militants try to avenge their fallen leader.
The reality is that terrorism and hatred are larger concepts than any one person, and the death of bin Laden, while long overdue, accomplishes little in terms of actually securing the country or trying to extinguish extremism.
Terrorism, extremism and hate cannot be defeated on the battlefield. Rather, they persist vibrantly in our world.
These ideologies have to be fought economically, socially and through education.
The U.S. can, and does, try to assist in some of these areas, but it is ultimately up to the people of these nations, where extremism breeds, to have the courage to stand up for a more moderate, open and accepting democratic society. That is why possible emerging democracies in the Middle East are so important.
A stable democracy in Egypt will do more to weed out extremism and terrorism than a million dead bin Ladens. And it is the administration’s responsibility to ensure that they pursue the correct means to win this war on terror.
